2021-23997. North County Transit District's Request for Positive Train Control Safety Plan Approval and System Certification

AGENCY:

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION:

Notice of availability and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

This document provides the public with notice that the North County Transit District (SDNX) submitted its Positive Train Control Safety Plan (PTCSP), Version 3.0, dated September 30, 2021, to FRA's Secure Information Repository. SDNX asks FRA to approve its amendment to its PTCSP and issue a Positive Train Control System Certification as a Mixed System for SDNX's Interoperable Electronic Train Management System (I-ETMS).

DATES:

FRA will consider comments received by January 3, 2022 before taking final action on the PTCSP. FRA may consider comments received after that date to the extent practicable and without delaying implementation of valuable or necessary modifications to a PTC system.

ADDRESSES:

Comments: Comments may be submitted by going to https://www.regulations.gov and following the online instructions for submitting comments.

Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and the applicable docket number. The relevant PTC docket number for this host railroad is Docket No. FRA-2010-0049. For convenience, all active PTC dockets are hyperlinked on FRA's website at https://railroads.dot.gov/​train-control/​ptc/​ptc-annual-and-quarterly-reports. All comments received will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov;​; this includes any personal information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Gabe Neal, Staff Director, Signal, Train Control, and Crossings Division, telephone: [phone], email: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

In its PTCSP, SDNX asserts that the I-ETMS it is implementing is designed as a mixed PTC system as defined in Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 236.1015(e). The PTCSP describes SDNX's I-ETMS implementation and the associated I-ETMS safety processes, safety analyses, and test, validation, and verification processes used during the development of I-ETMS. The PTCSP also contains SDNX's operational and support requirements and procedures.

SDNX's PTCSP and the accompanying request for approval and system certification are available for review online at www.regulations.gov (Docket Number FRA-2010-0049) and in person at DOT's Docket Operations Facility, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, W12-140, Washington, DC 20590. The Docket Operations Facility is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

Interested parties are invited to comment on the PTCSP by submitting written comments or data. During its review of the PTCSP, FRA will consider any comments or data submitted. See 49 CFR 236.1011(e). However, FRA may elect not to respond to any particular comment and, under 49 CFR 236.1009(d)(3), FRA maintains the authority to approve or disapprove the PTCSP at its sole discretion. FRA does not anticipate scheduling a public hearing regarding SDNX's PTCSP because the circumstances do not appear to warrant a hearing. If any interested party desires an opportunity for oral comment, the party should notify FRA in writing before the end of the comment period and specify the basis for their request.

Privacy Act Notice

Anyone can search the electronic form of any written communications and comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or signing the document, if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). In accordance with 49 CFR 211.3, FRA solicits comments from the public to better inform its decisions. DOT posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information the commenter provides, to https://www.regulations.gov,, as described in the system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at https://www.transportation.gov/​privacy. See https://www.regulations.gov/​privacy-notice for the privacy notice of regulations.gov. To facilitate comment tracking, we encourage commenters to provide their name, or the name of their organization; however, submission of names is completely optional. If you wish to provide comments containing proprietary or confidential information, please contact FRA for alternate submission instructions.

Issued in Washington, DC.

Carolyn R. Hayward-Williams,

Director, Office of Railroad Systems and Technology.